It’s pub day. MEAT BEES is out now from CLASH Books. I couldn’t be more proud of this book. I hope you give it a try.

Bees, Wasps, and other fly insects frighten people. Author Dane Erbach discussed how this might draw people into Meat Bees and more on this week's episode! From Episode 291: Dane Erbach (capestights.com/ep291) @clashbooks.bsky.social @browntrowsers.bsky.social

Meat Bees is a lot of things, but also came from some real life horrors. Author Dane Erbach discussed this and more on this week's episode! From Episode 291: Dane Erbach (capestights.com/ep291) @clashbooks.bsky.social @browntrowsers.bsky.social

Jaws with Wasps. The beginning of what turned into the fantastic and horrifying story of Meat Bees. Author Dane Erbach discussed this and more on this week's episode! From Episode 291: Dane Erbach (capestights.com/ep291) @browntrowsers.bsky.social @clashbooks.bsky.social

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes author Dane Erbach to the program to discuss Meat Bees, his upcoming novel from Clash Books, and more! Watch or listen: capestights.com/ep291 @browntrowsers.bsky.social @clashbooks.bsky.social

Am I too late for this trend? Should I have done this last week? Either way, I like doing stuff like this, so whatever!

I've been vacationing in Rejection Town for the past week or two, so I'm trying to put the right energy out there in the hopes that I find that right publisher, agent, or publication. In case no one has told you: Querying ain't for the weak.

The past few years, I've leaned into horror as my main writing genre, but I'd say all of my books lean YA. I've made a lot of horror friends, but I'm not sure I know enough YA authors. Do I know any contemporary YA authors? Published, querying, or drafting; traditional or indie — let's be friends!

Three more months…

Things Max finds when he stumbles through a portal back to 1986... • Slinkies • Ben Franklin stores • "These Dreams" by Heart • Old Country Buffet • Ashtrays everywhere • Aqua Net big hair • Metal spiders with razor-sharp legs that want to gut him • Skor bars #QuestPit #Q #YA #scifi #horror

BACK TO THE FUTURE x PSYCHO While working at his aunt's struggling hotel, Max discovers metal spiders that dig portals in time. He follows one to 1986, when the hotel is thriving. Turns out time-travel is sort of fun—until the spiders start slicing up hotel guests. #QuestPit #Q #YA #scifi #horror

I wish querying was as easy as asking, "Any agents or small publishers interested in reading a horror novel with BACK TO THE FUTURE X PSYCHO vibes?" Alas.

The Author 🐝 The First Page 🐝 The Cover

Okay. I’m officially querying another book. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking pitching a new book with two others in the trad pipeline. Will they help just get in the way? Small publishers / agents, let me know if you want to read a horror novel with humor and heart and time travel and gore.

Huh. Somehow, MEAT BEES ended up on Goodreads’ Month-by-Month Peek at 2026’s Most Anticipated Horror list. Excited is an understatement. Surreal might be more accurate. Even cooler, I’m on there with my fellow CLASH authors and some of my favorite authors of all time.

Crawling off the couch to share that MEAT BEES has hit 100 ratings on Goodreads. Didn't expect to get 100 ratings in the lifetime of this book, let alone this far from its publication date. If you've read and reviewed, even if MEAT BEES wasn't your cup of tea, thank you.

Dang, writing the climax of a novel is so exciting and stressful and fun and excruciating.

Noticed this morning that MEAT BEES has over 100 reviews on NetGally, and over 50 ratings at Goodreads. Considering that the book won't be published until August, I'd say that's kind of awesome. It brings me so much joy just knowing that people are reading my book.

It’s been a wild ride watching people enjoy MEAT BEES—and the book still has eight months until it’s released! Thanks for the boost, Capes and Tights!

Capes and Tights@capesandtights.com · 8mo ago

Meat Bees by Dane Erbach is exactly the campy horror story I was hoping for. It delivers a terrifying story of swarming wasps and a supernatural element that kept me truly terrified from beginning to end. @browntrowsers.bsky.social @clashbooks.bsky.social

My Newspaper Class: Squealing about boys, crying about grades, swiping through memes, breaking into spontaneous song, maybe writing or posting stories, but probably just eating Munchkins. Me: This class is a hot mess. Student: It's just because this class is a safe space for us. Me: 😕🥹😭

Gotta admit: MEAT BEE's cover is gnarly in the best possible way. Props to cover artist Joel Amat Güell and the fine folks at CLASH Books for giving my book the cover it deserves. I hope the story moves readers as much as the cover does.

I love Halloween, and I love dressing up ridiculously at school. I was expecting everyone to know who I was today but, so far, it’s just been a lot of “Who are you supposed to be?” When I tell them my daughter is a KPop Demon Hunter, some of them figure it out.

As utterly, gloriously bonkers as its cover and title all but screams, @browntrowsers.bsky.social ‘s “Meat Bees,” is a Jaws-Candyman hybrid that stuns with visceral imagery, before planting its mandibles somewhere tender. @clashbooks.bsky.social AUG ‘26 fanfiaddict.com/review-meat-...

Review: Meat Bees by Dane Erbach | FanFiAddict

Synopsis: By the time Scarlett Sutton arrives at her dad’s cabin in the Smoky Mountains, two locals have already been eaten alive by wasps. Of course, she d ...

fanfiaddict.com

And, just like that, I’m 2/3 of the way through my current novel. I’m on track to be done by the end of 2025. If you like creepy hotels and time traveling and spiders with knifes for legs, this Bud’s for you.

Proud to say that my dad was one of the inflatable tyrannosauruses at our local No Kings rally.

My first grader Maeby has been writing "Maeby 2000" on the name line of all her worksheets — totally unprompted, by the way — and I never expected when I became a parent that my children would be so incredibly cool.

WHAT?! MEAT BEES is the most requested horror novel on NetGalley right now?! Who knows how long it'll be there, this is an AWESOME milestone, and I'm very proud. Are you one of the readers who requested it? I hope you love it. Please let me know your thoughts, and thank you for reading!

Listen: I don't even know if anything I do at my job makes any sense to anyone any more, but I made this meme this morning to remind my Book Club kids of when our next meeting is, and it made me happy.

*nervous laughter* Uh, MEAT BEES is currently in the top five most requested horror novels right now on NetGalley with some other rad looking books. I suppose that means you should request the ARC now while you can.

Woke up this morning and realized that I have three stories coming out in three different spooky anthologies this month! Like monsters in any good scary story, I suppose they snuck up on me. The stories include a micro-story, a reprint (with an updated ending), and a story I wrote a long time ago.